Device for tensioning elongated flexible material



Aug. 26, 1952 c. A. BAUMGARTNER ETAL 2,608,362

DEVICE FOR TENSIONING ELONGATED FLEXIBLE MATERIAL Filed May 10, 1951 3Sheets-Sheet l 3 h. "h. "I. n

IN l/E/VTOFS Wm WM ATTORN EY 26, 1952 c. A. BAUMGARTNER ETAL 2,608,352

DEVICE FOR TENSIONING ELONGATED FLEXIBLE MATERIAL Filed May 10, 1951 3Sheets-Sheet 2 csc/A 4.51400764PT/VE1? flux/0 5w w P6796050 WILL/4M IKOCH ROBE-E7- morn-1e ATTORNEY C. A. BAUMGARTNER ET AL DEVICE FORTENSIONING ELONGATED FLEXIBLE MATERIAL filed May 10 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet3 lA/VEMUES (ac/L 4.549007614E77VEI? nuoreew #2 P5 64450 KOCH PatentedAug. 26, 1952 OFFICE DEVICE FOR TENSIONING-ELONGATED, FLEXIBLE MATERIALQecil A. Baumgartncr, Maywocd, N. 5., Andrew 7 W. Fergusonu'Great Neck,N. Y., and William J. Koch, Midland Park, and Robert A. Mutter,,Hawthorne, N. .L, assignors to Sipp-Eastwood Corporation, Paterson, N.5., a corporation of New York- Application ar 10. 1351. Serial Nc- 22.536

This invention relates. to, a, device fortensioning elongated flexiblematerial as such material travels in the direction of it l n t A yp caluse fil the tensioning device of the invention, although such device isobviously not limited thereto. is the tensioning of yarn in a high speedspo fing p rati n.

The spooling of yarn), as by withdrawing it from its cakeor package andlaying it upon a spool Q bobbin, in order tobe economically feasible isnecessarily a very fast operation, carried out in multiple. Thus, inatypical modern spooling machine a plurality of bobbins are supported inaligned relationship, each bobbin being fed from its separate supplypackage, the yarn proseeding from the package thro h a rd guidin meanson a reciprocating traverse bar and thence to the. bobbin. In a typicalfairlyhigh speed operation bobbins seven inches lon betwee flanges areemployed, and the traverse bar makes sixty complete cycles-per minute,a. cam with substantially no dwell at the ends of the stroke of thetraverse bar being employed.

It can be seen that such spoolers involve many problems, includingeconomy of space, the prevention of the entanglement ofyarns fromadjacent packages, and the problem of laying the yarn upon the spoolunder substantially constant tension in spite of the reversal of thecord laying device at each end of thespool.

The present invention provides a tensioning device for elongatedflexible material which is advantageously employed in the above spoolingoperation. The tensioning device of the invention contains many novelfeatures. The manner of mounting such tensioning device upon theaforesaid spooling machine presents also a novel combination. Thetensioning device is characterized by its lightness, which allows it tobe mounted directly on the traverse rail of the spooling machine, andthus to function as the yarn guiding and laying means. i The tensioningdevice is also self-threading, whereby the yarn proceeding fromthepackage to the spool may be dropped anywhere inthe vicinity of thetensionillg device, the yarn finding its way automatically into thecorrect location in the tensioning means. The tension device of theinvention is further characterized by'the uniformity of tension which itimposes on the elongated flexible material in spite of the rapidreciprocation of such device, and also bythe ease with which minuteadjustments of such tension are effected. A further advantage of" thedevice is its simplicity and consequent economy of construction.

The above and other objects of the invention 1 Claim. (Cl. 2,42 l5il)will be more readily apparent upon consideration of the accompanyingdrawings formin a part of the specification.

In such drawings;

Fig. l is a somewhat diagrammatic view in front elevation of a portionof a multiple spool ing machine incorporating the material tensioningdevice of the invention; i

Fig. 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic view in cross-section through suchspooler, the section being taken along theline Z-e-Z in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in front elevation of the tensioning deviceof the invention;

Fig. 4 is a view in axial cross section through the tensioning device,the section being taken al n the line 4-4. in. F

, F 5 i a iew n nd elev on of the, tensie ng d v c Fi 6 is a Vi w n d eeva on. t e housin half which con ain t e disc sep ration limit nmember, the View being taken in the direction m inn r e d to the outeend of suc ho sin halt. there be n hown he c ip m m er attached to suchhousing halt in unfastened condition;

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation of one, housing half of the tensionindevice; and

Fig. 8 is a view in plan of the, assembled housing mounting clip of thetensioning device, the tension member separation limiting device beinginstalled therein but the housing halves being omitted.

In Fig. l, as above explained, there is shown somewhat diagrammaticallyone end portion of a multiple spooling machine. In such figure there isshown a first spool 2 and a second spool 4 adjacent thereto, the twospools being axially aligned and lying close togethergas shown. Suchspools are supported and rotated by conventional means, not shown. Themachine is provided. with an elon ated hollow traverse rod 6, which liesparallel to the axes of the spools 2 and d and which is reciprocated ata high ratoof speed to lay the yarnupon the bobbins. The machine is alsoprovided with a longitudinally extending bar mounted on the machine.frame (not shown) somewhat below and to'the rear of the traverse rod.

For each of the spools there is provided a letoil supply 19 of yarn inthe form of a cake or package, the yarn proceeding from such supplythrough suitable guides, to be described, to the tensioning device ofthe invention, the first such tensioning device employed with spool 2being designated i2, and the second tcnsioning device, shown associatedwith spool d, being designated It. The tensioning devices are mounted onthe traverse bar 6 so as to travel therewith, the tensioning devicesfunctioning both to tension the yarn and also to guide it in theoperation of wrapping it helically upon the spool.

In order to make the tensioning devices selfthreading, there is providedat the left of tensioning device l2 the end guide means it, andintermediate each adjacent pair of tensioning devices a center guidemeans I8. The end guide means is supported at one end on the traverserod 6 and at the other end upon the housing half 28 of the tensioningdevice I2. The center guide means it is supported by being snapped atboth ends into slots in such housing halves, to be described more fullyhereinafter, of tension devices I 2 and M. The horizontal and verticalguide wires of each guide means are convex, the horizontal guide wirehaving a configuration similar to that of the vertical guide wire, sothat if the yarn is dropped anywhere between the midpoints of adjacentguide wires, in the zone including the tensioning devices, the yarn willautomatically find its way into the correct location in the tensioningdevice. The tensioning devices are located upon the traverse rod inspaced relationship to each other, so that the longitudinally centralpoint of each will just cover, in its travel, the distance between theend flanges of its respective spool.

As shown in Fig. 2, the yarn travels directly from its respectivetensioning device onto the spool. This is made possible by the fact thatthe tensioning devices are mounted directly upon the traverse rod. As aresult, the yarn is fed onto the spool under substantially constanttension at all times, even at the points of reversal of travel of thetraverse rod at the end flanges on the spool. Such direct mounting ofthe tensioning device on the traverse rod is made possible bythe-lightness of construction of such tensioning device and also itssubstantial immunity to variation in tension caused by the shock ofrapid reversal of direction of its travel at the spool ends. The travelof the yarn from the let-01f supply to the spool is shown in Fig. 2,where it is first shown entering the balloon 22 from whence it proceedsupwardly through the eye or guide 24, which is of the pigtailselfthreading type andv is supported on the bar 8. From eye 24 the yarnproceeds, as shown at 20, upwardly through the yarn cleaning devicegenerally designated I59, such device being affixed to the tensioningdevice, into the tensioning device, and thence, as explained, directlyonto the spool. The yarn cleaning device will be described more fullyhereinafter.

The construction of the tensioning device will be more readilyunderstood by a consideration of Figs. 38, inclusive. The main housingof the tensioning device is formed by two identical housing halves 28.Each housing half 28 is provided at the bottom with a hollow car 30,such ears having the fiat mating surfaces 32 (Fig. 6) at the interface,there being a nib I42 and a correspondingly shaped recess [44 on suchface, one on each side of the ear. The nibs and recesses of the twohalves lock them against rotation relative to each other. The earsextend upwardly to the point 33 (Fig. 4) where they join with the mainportion thereof, such main portion in an axial direction being generallyof frusto-conical shape except for the fact that the half is fiatted oilat the bottom at a point directly behind the ear.

The main housing of the tensioning device,

formed of the two halves 23 in mating relationship, is held together,and also held on the traverse rod, by a clip generally designated 34.Such clip, which is composed of two pieces, provides a portion whichclampingly embraces the traverse rod and a second portion, at the top,including the two cars 36 and 36' which lie on opposite sides of theears 3!], as shown in Fig. 4. The two housing halves are held togetherand attached to the clip 34 by means of the bolt 44 which extends, inthat order, through car 36 of the clip, the first ear 3% of one half 28,the second ear 3i], and the ear 36 of the clip, the bolt being retainedby the nut 46, as shown.

The construction of the clip 34 will be more readily appreciated by aconsideration of Figs. 5, 6, and 8. The clip is made up of a rear leg 38and by a front leg 40, the two clip pieces being retained together bythe bolt 42 and by the aforesaid bolt 44. The part 40 of to clipincludes the car 36 and a bent portion having surfaces in engagementwith three of the four sides of the traverse rod. The rear leg 38 of theclip includes at its top the ear portion 36' and below such ear, bentsurfaces which engage two surfaces of the traverse rod. The surfaces ofthe clip pieces which engage the forward top surface of the traverse rodhave their confronting surfaces on a bias as shown in Fig. 8, theangular surface on part 38 being designated 39 and that on part 40 beingdesignated 4|. As a result of such construction, the clip verypositively engages the traverse rod, but at the same time may be readilyremoved therefrom by removal of nut 46 and of bolt 42, following whichthe clip portion 38 may be swung downwardly into the position shown inFig. 6. The lower end of leg 38 of the clip may be employed as a supportfor a yarn guiding eye 26, as shown in Fig. 5. Eye 26, not shown inFigs. 1 and 2, may be used in such combination to supplement the guidingaction of eye 24, or may be used instead of fixed eye 24.

The configuration of the housing half 23 will be appreciated byconsideration of Figs. 5, 5, and 7. As there shown, each part 28 has atthe top inner edge a vertical portion 48, below which the inner edgeinclines inwardly as shown at 5B. The edges 48 and 59 of the confrontinghousing halves in the composite housing define a transverse slot throughthe housing, open at the top thereof, and located at the mid-point ofthe length of the housing. The entire peripheral surface of each part 23at the top and sides thereof, designated 52, is, as stated,frustoconical. Housing halves 28 are most conveniently and economicallymolded from a suitable plastic, such as polystyrene, such material beingstrong and light. Furthermore, when the housing is thus molded, it has ahighly polished outer surface, so that the yarn easily slides down thetop of surface 52 and into the tensioning device per proper, more fullyto be described, without injuring any of the filaments making up suchyarn.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, each housing half 28 is provided inwardlythereof at its larger diametered end with three equally angularly spacedaxially located ribs 54. Such ribs extend throughout a substantiallength of the body 28 as shown in Fig. 3, the ribs terminating at aninner circumferential rib 56 of substantially the same radial height asthe inner ends of ribs 54. The outer end of each part 28 is provided, ata location diametrically opposed to the car 30, with a re-entrant guidewire receiving slot 58 as most clearly shown in Fig; 4, acorrespondingly shaped projection on theend of the guide wire beingsnapped into such recess.

The tension device sub-assembly, which is held by the above describedhousing, is designated 60. Such sub-assembly 60 consists of the plasticsupporting member 62, such member having a barrel portion 64 which fitssnugly within one of the housing halves 28, the radial ribs 54 on suchmember 62 is fully engaged in the housing.

The partition 66 is provided centrally thereof with the hollow stemM,parts 62, 64, 66, and 68 together with part 14 preferably being formedintegrally, as by being molded from'light-weight plastic material.Supported in the hollowstem l4 isthe central metal rod or stem 16, suchrod being retained in part 14 bythe nut I8 at the rear end thereof. Rod'ifi is shouldered at 84, the outer threaded portion 86 of the rod beingof greater diameter than the inner portion'thereof.

Held between the shoulder 84 and the inner end of part M are the metalwasher member 80 and the sleeve member 82, the latter member beingformed of hard, wear-resisting, material such as porcelain. The sleeve82 serves as a supporting guide for the yarn as the latter passesbetween the tensioning discmembers 95 and 88, to be described.

The tensioning discs of the tensioning device of the invention aresupported upon the sleeve 32 in the following manner: Positioned uponsuch sleeve, in that order, reading from left to right, are the firstfrusto-conical washer 88, a small inwardly hollow cup-shaped washer 94,the first, outwardly hollow cup-shaped tensioning disc 96, the secondoutwardly hollow cup-shaped tensioning disc 95, the second inwardlyhollow small cup-shaped washer I22, and the second frusto-conical washer12. As shown, the smaller face 90 of washer 88 is in contact with themetal washer dii. Washer 94 has its annular'radially directed face incontact with the larger face 92 of Washer 66. The two tensioning discs95 and 93 are positioned so that their annular, radially directed,tensioning faces are in contact. The sec-- ond small dished washer I91)is positioned so that its radially directed annular face is in contact"with the smaller face I04 of Washer Hi2.

In a preferred construction,washers 8B and I02 are made of hard, wearresisting, material such as porcelain, and parts 94, 5E, 98, and I00 aremade of metal such as steel, although it is obvious that such parts maybe made of other materials, if desired.

Tensioning discs 96 and 98 are yieldably urged together under aselectively variable force by means of the coil spring I08 whichsurrounds the outer end of sleeve 82 and the inner end of threadedportion 86 of metal rod 16. An inwardly hollow cup-shaped washer I Iiiis disposed in telescoping relationship over the outer end of springI08, a felt shock-absorbing or damping washer II2 being disposed on stem86 outwardly of washer Hi). The whole assembly is retained in place bymeans of the wing nut I I4 threadedly engaged with the stem 86.

the inner edge of circumferential rib 56 when i 6 i The pressure withwhich the tensioning discs 96 and 98 are urged together, with a givenspring I08, may readily be varied by rotation of wing nut IHI, which ispreferably of therrsemi-locking type. Means for readily indicatingthe'amount of tension given by the device at a given adjustment byproviding afiatted portion H6 along the outer end of. threaded stem 86,such flatted portion being provided with spaced indicia H8 which may beread in conjunction with the rear edge I20 of .the wing nut H4. .Afinerreading as to the position of nut II41is given by the indicating wingI22 of the not acting in cooperation with the indicating ring I24; Suchring, as shown inFig. 4, is provided with an axially directed sleeveportion I26 which snaps within the outer endof the opening through onehousing half 28, the radially "directed flange l 28ribeing angularlycalibrated and. having such inner .diameter as to allow the passagethere'throu'gh; of

the wings, including the indicating wings I22, on

nutIM.

As shown in Figh i, theinterfacebetween.the

tensioning discs '95 and 98' lies approximately equidistant between thefaces 43 of the two. housing halves 28.} Such edges IB overhangthetensioning discsgso that there is no possibility of the feeding of theyarn, asit drops oif one edge 68, into any location in the tensioning.devioe other than between the tensioning discs; Because of the greaterfrictional retardation of the disc 96 by washer 88 from suchretardationof disc 93 by washer I62, such discs rotate at differentspeeds as the yarn is pulled therebetween. Such result is caused by thefact that the largerfriction face of porcelain washer-88 is in contactwith the washer 94,'which rotates with disc 56, whereas the smaller faceof friction washer I02 is in contact with Washer H10, which rotates withdisc 98. It has been found that with such difference in the speedof'rotation of discs 95 and 98 the yarn staysstably between the discsand on sleeve 82. If both discs were allowed to rotate at the samespeed, on the other hand, the yarn would tend to creep outof contactwithsleeve 82 toward the peripheries of discs 96 and '98.

Further control over the tensioning discs under conditions arisingfrom-their rapid reciprocation when the tensioning device is mounted onthe traverse bar, as shown, is effected by the adjustable tensioningdisc separation controlling member I39, shown more'clearly in Figs. 4and 6. Within the cavityformed by the confronting cavities I iil in theears 39' on housing halves 28 there is positioned the slidable stemmember I34 which has a threaded bore I38 therethrough threadedly engagedupon the bolt M. Ahorizontal flange I36, on the bottom of stem I34, aidsin the holding of member I38 in upright position by bracingit on'thebolt Located at the top of the stem is the generally horizontal,symmetrically located, partial annulus I32, the innor end of whichconfronts and overlaps .the outer cup edge of ten'sionin g-disc 98." Itwill be apparent that member I30; upon the desired adjustment thereof byloosening nut 46 and by the turning of bolt 44 thereby causing'memberI34 to travel in the cavity. in 'theiears, acts as a means of limitingthe separationof the tensioning discs 96 and 98 at the, bottom thereofas the tensioning device reciprocates. In practice, member I39 isadjusted so that it just clears the bottom right. hand edge of disc 33.whenthe tensiong device is at rest. Themember I30 thus limits the throw,ofthe bottom portionsof discs '7 96 and 98 to the right when thetraverse bar reverses its direction of travel at the right-hand ends ofthe spools.

It will be apparent that the tensioning device of the invention issimple to adjust, to clean, and to maintain. The device sub-assemblyincluding member 60, the stem 16, and the tensioning disc membersmounted thereon may be readily removed by thrusting the device to theleft as it is shown in Fig. 4 to release the spring catches :12 from therib 56. Such ease of demounting of the tensioning sub-assembly is alsoof value, shouldsuch tensioning members require replacement foradjustment, since another such sub-assembly may very rapidly besubstituted in the housing of the tensioning device for the one removed,thus not requiring much, if any, lay-downof the spooler.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 there is shown the yarn cleaner I50, referredto generally above. The yarn cleaner, which is mounted upon the housingof the tensioning device, engages the yarn or other elongated flexiblematerial on its travel into the tensioning device and frees it fromvagrant filaments and other extraneous material before it is tensionedand wound upon the spool. As shown most clearly in Figs. 3 and 5, theyarn cleaning device I50 includes a cleaner retention clip, designatedI52, which is retained in place upon the housing of the tensioningdevice by having a rear portion of such clip engaged between therecessed broad front surfaces I58 of ears 3!) of the housing halves andthe tensioning device retaining clip 34. The rear portion of the cleanerretention clip which is thus engaged is shown in Fig. 5, where it isdesignated I64. The forward portion of the cleaner retention clip, whichprojects outwardly into the path of the yarn 20, includes two spacedparallel side lugs I54, the portion of the clip between such lugs andrearwardly thereof being bent downwardly to form the tang I56 whichoverlies the front top surface of the clip 34, as shown in Fig. 5.

The space between the lugs I54, which receives therewithin the yarncleaning device proper, is designated I56. The roots of the lugs I54,which are generally parallel to the outer lower surface of the bodyhalves 28 of the tensioning device, are designated I58. Each of suchroots is offset upwardly at I60, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the upperportion thereof approaches the body half. The outer ends or arms of thelugs I 54, which lie generally horizontal as shown, are designated I52.The offsets I60 are so positioned that they lie opposite the slightlyundercut recesses I10 which are positioned in the bottom confrontingedges of the body halves 28 of the tensioning device. The space thuspresented between opposing recesses I10 and the offsets I50 of the lugsI54 removably receives the yarn cleaner I12.

Such yarn cleaner is made up of two connected superimposed plates I14and I15, the upper plate I16 having a width laterally of the tensiondevice which slightly exceeds the comparable width of the bottom plateI14. Consequently, the yarn cleaner I12 may be slid into the receivingspace provided for it by the retention clip and the recesses in thehousing halves, such insertion of the cleaner being in a direction intothe paper in Fig. 3. The cleaner is thus stably held within the spaceprovided for it on the tensioning device. The bottom plate I14 isprovided with a wide slot extending laterally of such plate and also ina direction toward the tensioning device. The upper plate I16 isprovided with a narrow slot centrally thereof and extending in the samedirection, such slot being designated I18. The width of slot I18 in itsinner, operative, portion slightly exceeds the diameter of the yarn orother elongated flexible material being traversed through the tensioningdevice, whereby vagrant filaments and other foreign material on the yarnare scraped therefrom prior to entry of the yarn into the tensioningdevice. Entry of the yarn into slot I18 is assured by flaring the outerend of such slot, that is, making such slot of V-shape in plan.

The outer ends of each of the lugs I54 of the cleaner retention clip isalso of V-shape in plan, such ends lying inwardly of the path of theyarn riding upon the outer surface of housing halves 28 prior to entryof such yarn into the correct tensioning position in the tensioningdevice. The outer ends of the upper and lower plates I14 and I15 formingthe yarn cleaner I12 lie inwardly of the outer ends of the cleanerretention clips in a direction toward the axis of the tensioning device.Consequently neither the cleaner retention clip nor the cleaner itselfinterferes with the self-threading function of the yarn tensioningdevice, the yarn automatically finding its way into the correct positioninto the slots I18 of the yarn cleaner and also into the tensioningposition between the tensioning discs 96 and 98, as above explained.

Whereas for purposes of illustration we have shown and described apreferred embodiment of the elongated flexible member tensioning deviceof our invention, and also of the combination of such device with amultiple spooler, it will be apparent that both the tensioning deviceand its manner of use are capable of considerable variation. Theinvention is therefore to be defined by the scope of the claim appendedhereto.

We claim as new the following:

A device for imposing retarding tension upon an elongated flexiblematerial travelling in the direction of its length comprising anelongated thin-walled housing, said housing being made up of two alignedconfronting identical housing halves mating at the bottom of the housingalong a surface transverse to the length of the housing, said housinghaving a transverse slot through a major portion of the main bodythereof and extending from its upper edge, one half of the slot beingformed in each housing half, the housing having a large openingtherethrough longitudinally thereof formed by aligned openings in eachhousing half, said slot intersecting the opening through the housing,each housing half having at the opening therethrough at the outer endthereof a plurality of angularly spaced radially directed ribs the innerends of which lie on circles on planes transverse to the longitudinalaxis of the housing, the ribs terminating short of the inner slotforming edge of each housing half in a circular transverse rib on theinterior of the opening in the housing half, a tensioning assemblymounted in the opening in the housing, the assembly being insertableinto the housing through an end thereof, the assembly having a main bodyat one end thereof, the main body having a surface of such shape andsize that it accurately fits within a housing half in snug contact withthe inner ends of the radial ribs therein, at least one spring detent onthe main body of the assembly which removably snaps over the circulartransverse rib in the housing half when the assembly is fully insertedin the housing, said assembly main body carrying axially 9 thereof alongitudinally extending stem located coaxially of the housing, a pairof material engaging tensioning discs rotatably mounted on the stemcoaxial thereof, the discs being so located that the interface betweenthem lies within the slot in the housing, the discs being of such widthlongitudinally of the housing that a portion of each housing halfoverhangs its respective disc at the top of the slot, means frictionallyto retard rotation of discs as the elongated material passes betweenthem, such last named means including friction washers engaging theouter faces of the friction discs, one of said friction washers having aface of different area engaging its friction disc from the area of theface of the other friction washer engaging the other disc, means on thetensioning assembly yieldingly to urge one of the discs toward theother, means on the assembly to adjust the force with which the lastnamed means urges the discs together, the upper surface of each housinghalf being slanted smoothly downwardly toward the slot, the housinghalves each having a hollow ear at the bottom thereof, the hollowstherein confronting each other when the halves are assembled, means tohold the ears and thus the housing halves together, means connected tothe last named means to attach the housing to a support, an uprightmember mounted in the hollow within the ears, means to adjust 10 theupright member longitudinally of the housing, and means on the upper endof the upright member confronting the rear bottom edge of the disc whichis directly acted upon by the yielding means to limit the separation ofthe discs at their bottom edges.

CECIL A. BAUMGARTNER. ANDREW W; FERGUSON. WILLIAM J. KOCH.

' ROBERT A. MUTTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record. in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,093,900 Wardwell Apr. 21, 19141,392,515 McKean Oct. 4, 1921 1,399,649 Penland Dec. 6, 1921 2,135,485Abbott Nov. 8, 1938 2,475,895 Hill July 12, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 17,108 Austria Aug. 10, 1904 384,089 Germany Oct; 2 5, 1923577,576 France June 6, 1924

